A Choice
by August Mayhem
Summary: When percy wakes with no memory of who he is, other than Annabeth's name and the need to get to 'Camp', he struggles with what he should do. When a goddess offers him a choice, what will he pick? Next in the "End of All Things" series.


Italicised bits are taken directly from the book. That being said, it's not plagiarism, not do I own anything that's recognisable.

.X.

Percy scrambled madly down the hill, the gorgons crashing after him once they reformed. He saw the two kids in the tunnel, this was where he was supposed to be.

And yet…

And yet, something told him that being here was dangerous, he should not be here, should leave and never come back. Percy jumped when a voice agreed with his thoughts.

The hippy-looking woman smiled at him with three teeth, _"It isn't a maintenance tunnel, it's the entrance to Camp."_

Camp was home. Safety. Strength. A burst of energy, colourised with excitement and fear, but loyalty and bonds and victory.

Except there was still that niggling fear. Something was wrong.

"You need to make your choice child, you haven't much time."

" _Who are you?"_ Sometimes not knowing was better, but he didn't need another mortal turning into a monster trying to kill him.

She rattled off something about June and having a month named after her, Percy didn't really pay attention. Though he did try to tell her to get to safety, gorgons weren't discriminatory in who they killed.

Wrinkled hands clasped closed to a hunched chest, "How sweet, dear boy. _But that's part of your choice."_

A sound made Percy look back up the hill, the gorgons were flying. Why were they flying, since when did they have wings!?

" _My choice?"_ He really was quite distracted by the incoming, flying, monsters. The ones that kept trying to kill him.

" _Yes, a choice,"_ Her voice strengthened and gained a vague other-worldly sound to it. _"You could leave me here at the mercy of the gorgons and go to the ocean. You'd make it there safely, I guarantee. The gorgons will be quite happy to attack me and let you go. In the sea, no monster would bother you. You could begin a new life, live to a ripe old age, and escape a great deal of pain and misery that is in your future."_

Since that sounded halfway decent, Percy was _sure_ his other option was going to be absolutely horrible. "Or?"

"Or you could do a good deed and carry me to the camp with you."

What. Why would he carry an old hippy, bag-lady with him to a camp he wasn't even really sure about?

"I can't get there myself you see. _Carry me to Camp, across the highway, through the tunnel, across the river."_

Again, why? To what end? Was she a monster who wanted easy entrance to the camp? Why not just go for it, why ask him to carry her?

" _Because it's a kindness!"_ Her smile dimmed into solemnity, _"And if you don't, the gods will die, the world we know will perish, and everyone from your old life will be destroyed. Of course, you wouldn't remember them, so I supposed it won't matter. You'd be safe at the bottom of the sea…"_

The gorgons were getting nearer and nearer; they didn't have much time. He turned to the woman quickly, _"If I go to the camp, will I get my memory back?"_

" _Eventually, but be warned, you will sacrifice much! You'll lose the mark of Achilles. You'll feel pain, misery, and loss beyond anything you've ever known. But you might have a chance to save your old friends and family, to reclaim your old life."_

Percy had the vague notion that the two kids in the tunnel would let him in if he ran there, might even help him fight off the gorgons. And he sincerely doubted that (June?) was defenseless. At the very worst, this was a trap and he had no idea which way ended in him being safe. At the very best it was a test, and he wasn't sure he could afford to fail.

But every time he thought about who he was, it all got jumbled. He was _, from _. He felt like _. He knew his name and whatever else he'd learned since his Awakening. But if he tried to think about his past, it was full of fear and despair and a sorrow so deep it was almost debilitating.

Percy wasn't sure if he wanted those memories back. Especially not if he had to sacrifice even more, and suffer further pain, misery and 'loss beyond anything he'd ever known'.

He thought of the one name he knew outside his own, Annabeth. Annabeth who maybe had dark hair, it could have been blonde, or silver. Who had blue eyes that could have been grey and were sharp and fierce.

Who made his chest press tight with a deep emotional pain every time he thought of her. Had he loved her at some point? Did he lose her, had she died? She was his, he was sure, but she was gone. And now so was he. It didn't matter anymore did it?

It would have been nice to know about his past, but if he knew anything, sometimes the brain forgot things because they were too traumatic. If he'd lost his memory perhaps that was for the best. Percy had no ties to the kids in the tunnel. And while Camp meant safety, so did the ocean. The divine being, because the hippy-lady could be nothing else he reasoned, had promised that he would be safe in the water. There was no reason to trust her promises, but Percy knew from experience that water would heal him, make him strong, salt more than fresh. And what better source than the world's oceans?

He looked at the woman beside him. Then out to the sea.

"I know you aren't just some old lady, and I doubt you're as defenseless as you claim. I also know this is some kind of test, though I don't know to what end. I'm not sure I care anymore. My past has been forgotten. And maybe that's for the best. I don't want to know what happened to me. I'm sorry, but I'm going to the ocean."

He couldn't put words to how it comforted him, made him safe, strengthened him. How it meant freedom, made him happy. Free from the ties that previously bound him, held him down, constrained him to the past.

Looking out to the distant haze of water, Percy didn't see the shock of surprise wash away the disguised face. He did hear the gorgon shrieks as they dove to attack and in a quick move, jumped to twist mid-air, pulling Anaklusmos from his pocket and sliced it through both their necks. He landed in a graceful crouch in time with the two heads hitting the ground.

Juno had to force herself to move after the young demigod landed. She could not lose this piece, she needed him to help unite the camps. To push back Gaia's forces. To get the demigods and gods working together. To stop Gaia and prevent her from awakening. To stop the destruction of the world.

"Don't you want to know who Annabeth is?"

When sea-green eyes slanted at her, she felt an unreasonable frisson of fear slither down her spine. What could she have to fear from one little demigod? Even one as powerful as Percy Jackson.

Nothing in his face changed, but his eyes were damning all on their own. Her brother's eyes looking out from a younger face, so like his own, powerful and stormy. Judging her. She had to fight not to cringe back, and then stiffened her spine in outrage that a mere halfing had made her want to cower.

His voice was deceptively soft when he finally deigned to speak again.

"I never once said that name. So you either plucked it from my mind, which means you are powerful, or you knew who she was already. And how she relates to my past. Either way, your knowledge of that name means that this was all a test.

"But I don't want to remember Annabeth. She's gone. I don't know her, and my heart tells me it's better, less painful, without her. I will move forward in my life without the trials and tribulations you promised for my future in return for my memory."

Strong legs carried him across the highway, no care for the cars that sped around him.

"Good luck with your war Goddess. You might need it."

Juno wanted to curse that stupid blonde chit that had always hated her, tried to ruin her plans. She knew Jackson was in love with her, why did he not want to find her again? And yet, she couldn't force the boy to go to the tunnel. Certain rituals had to be done willingly for them to take full effect. If she forced him, it would only make things worse.

He plan was going up in smoke, at so early a stage… No. She would find a way to save her family and stop the coming destruction. More lives may be lost, and her original plan would have to be adjusted, but she would prevail. Damn that brat of Athena!

She would have a talk with her errant husband's daughter; find out what exactly has happened. And why her preparations were foiled so completely at the beginning.

Juno _would not_ let her world fall to ashes.

.x.


End file.
